Tag Archives: William Lloyd Garrison More stats 2 12 2014/02/20 Published Select On this day … Isaac Asimov – A writer

Amendments 13-15 are called the Reconstruction Amendments both because they were the first enacted right after the Civil War and because all addressed questions related to the legal and political status of the African Americans.

On 1/31 in 1865, the U.S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in America. The amendment read, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

When the Civil War began, President Abraham Lincoln’s professed goal was the restoration of the Union. But early in the war, the Union began keeping escaped slaves rather than returning them to their owners, so slavery essentially ended wherever the Union army was victorious.

In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in areas that were still in rebellion against the Union. This measure opened the issue of what to do about slavery in border states that had not seceded or in areas that had been captured by the Union before the proclamation.

In 1864, an amendment abolishing slavery passed the U.S. Senate but died in the House as Democrats rallied in the name of states’ rights. The election of 1864 brought Lincoln back to the White House along with significant Republican majorities in both houses, so it appeared the amendment was headed for passage when the new Congress convened in March 1865. Lincoln preferred that the amendment receive bipartisan support–some Democrats indicated support for the measure, but many still resisted.

The amendment passed 119 to 56, seven votes above the necessary two-thirds majority. Several Democrats abstained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, which came in December 1865. With the passage of the amendment, the institution that had indelibly shaped American history was eradicated

Amendments 13-15 are called the Reconstruction Amendments both because they were the first enacted right after the Civil War and because all addressed questions related to the legal and political status of the African Americans.

This isn’t another plan that puts a Band-Aid on our budget problems. This plan is sustainable, responsible, and fair. It champions the values we care about most, from education to cleaner, healthier communities — and I need your help to make it a reality.

Do you believe we must stop climate change before it’s too late by charging our state’s biggest polluters?

Do you believe we can’t stop at making overdue repairs to roads and bridges — that we must create jobs building the transportation infrastructure of tomorrow?

Do you believe it’s time to invest in our schools and lead the country by making some of our largest and smartest investments in education ever — from pre-K to college and job training?

Do you believe our budget should be rooted in fairness?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, I need you to step up and sign my petition — right now.

On this day in 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.

Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists’ colony was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more. Plans for the festival were on the verge of foundering, however, after both Woodstock and the nearby town of Wallkill denied permission to hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue at the last minute, giving the promoters access to his 600 acres of land in Bethel, some 50 miles from Woodstock.

Early estimates of attendance increased from 50,000 to around 200,000, but by the time the gates opened on Friday, August 15, more than 400,000 people were clamoring to get in. Those without tickets simply walked through gaps in the fences, and the organizers were eventually forced to make the event free of charge. Folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens kicked off the event with a long set, and Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie also performed on Friday night.

Somewhat improbably, the chaotic gathering of half a million young “hippies” lived up to its billing of “Three Days of Peace and Music.” There were surprisingly few incidents of violence on the overcrowded grounds, and a number of musicians performed songs expressing their opposition to the Vietnam War. Among the many great moments at the Woodstock Music Festival were career-making performances by up-and-coming acts like Santana, Joe Cocker and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Who’s early-morning set featuring songs from their classic rock opera “Tommy”; and the closing set by Hendrix, which climaxed with an improvised solo guitar performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Though Woodstock had left its promoters nearly bankrupt, their ownership of the film and recording rights more than compensated for the losses after the release of a hit documentary film in 1970. Later music festivals inspired by Woodstock’s success failed to live up to its standard, and the festival still stands for many as a example of America’s 1960s youth counterculture at its best.

There are only 97 vaquita porpoises left in the world, all living in Mexico’s Gulf of California. And these tiny porpoises are being senselessly killed due to a black market demand for endangered species.

Illegal trade of the endangered totoaba fish, whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy by many in Hong Kong, is putting TWO endangered species at risk: the totoaba, and the vaquitas caught and killed in the fishermen’s nets.

Your words matter. When 470,000 people from all across the globe asked the Mexican government for help, Mexico’s president immediately took action, expanding the vaquita’s protected zone and banning destructive gillnet fishing for two years.

Mexico’s actions are an important first step, but a recent undercover Greenpeace investigation discovered a vast smuggling operation of totoaba bladders from Mexico to Hong Kong. As long as the totoaba trade remains lucrative for smugglers, the vaquita will not be safe. Mexico has taken action and now Hong Kong must do its part too.

You can be part of the solution. By taking action right now, you will help pressure the Hong Kong authorities to STOP the devastating trade of totoaba swim bladders, and to take tangible steps to cut the link to destructive fishing immediately.

“Woven Into The Fabric Of America”

by CAP Action War Room Posted on June 9, 2015 at 6:10 pm

Five Years Later, The Affordable Care Act Has Transformed Our Health Care System

Five years ago, the idea that healthcare reform would give millions of uninsured Americans health coverage, guarantee access to insurance to people with pre-existing conditions, eliminate lifetime limits on Americans’ health coverage, and help slow the growth of healthcare costs sounded ambitious to put it gently. But five years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, all of that has become a reality.

In a speech this morning, President Obama spoke about how health care reform has now been woven into the fabric of America. “So five years in, what we are talking about it is no longer just a law. It’s no longer just a theory. This isn’t even just about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This isn’t about myths or rumors that folks try to sustain. There is a reality that people on the ground day to day are experiencing. Their lives are better,” he said. The reality is that the ACA has succeeded at delivering quality, affordable health care to millions of Americans. Here is some proof:

Despite all the evidence that the law is working, opponents of the ACA continue to work to undo all its success. The president put it best this morning when he said, “It seems so cynical… to punish millions with higher costs of care and unravel what’s now been woven into the fabric of America.” With King v. Burwell the Supreme Court has the potential to reverse much of the progress health care law has made and take away the peace of mind that millions of Americans have gained thanks to the law’s success.

For more about the impacts of King v. Burwell, check out this new video from the Center for American Progress and visit HearTheNine.org to read stories from Americans whose health coverage is on the line.

BOTTOM LINE: Since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, millions of previously uninsured Americans have gained health coverage. American families have been saved from financial catastrophe and lives have been saved. But still, despite the fact that none of the doom-and-gloom predictions came to pass, ideologically-charged politicians continue to try to undo all the progress that has been made.